SKIPPER BACKS CORNERED COOK TO END RUN DROUGHT

JOE ROOT has urged Alastair Cook to repeat his heroics at Southampton four years ago and prolong his Test career with runs against India. Cook arrived at the Ageas Bowl in 2014 after a sequence of nine Test innings without a half-century but responded with 95 and 70 not out as England squared the series. This time, he has one fifty from his last 14 innings and Root said: ‘I’d love him to go out and make a double hundred. Whenever he’s backed into a corner he does something special. It would be good for him to go out and play a big innings as he has done on a number of occasions and see him back at his absolute best.’ Back then, Cook’s poor form was exacerbated by doubts over his captaincy, following England’s 2013-14 Ashes whitewash and a home defeat against Sri Lanka. And the ovation he received left a lump in his team-mates’ throat. ‘I remember being sat in the dressing-room almost a little bit emotional for him,’ said Root. ‘That was the feeling within the group of how much he means to the squad.’